As a Program Manager at CourtAvenue, I successfully led Kia’s Build & Price redesign project from design through to launch. Working closely with Kia’s customer experience team and in-house development group, I managed the transformation of complex features into an intuitive and robust user experience. Utilizing analytics, stakeholder insights, user research, and UX best practices, I spearheaded the effort to ensure precise design execution, optimize the handoff process, and establish a thorough QA strategy for seamless implementation of the approved designs. This approach helped deliver a refined, user-centered experience for Kia’s digital customers and more qualified leads for dealerships across the country.
As a Program Manager at CourtAvenue, I led the Epson navigation redesign project from client approval through to the development handoff. Working with Epson’s complex structure of products and services, we aimed to enhance site organization to align with both current and future content requirements. Leveraging analytics, stakeholder insights, and UX best practices, I spearheaded efforts to enable our team of strategy, user experience, and design experts identify user navigation patterns and friction points, ultimately introducing a more seamless and intuitive experience that effectively connected users with Epson’s products and services.
See it in action at Epson.com
As the project manager on this redesign and development effort while working at Digital Operative, we balanced the needs of the consumer and the brand. Working with COOLA, we were focused on creating shopping paths that engaged and educated consumers on their core product lines from suncare to skincare. I am very proud of my involvement on this Shopify Plus redesign that garnered awards across Consumer Goods and Shopping for w3 awards WebAwards, and Davey Awards.
As an agency Producer at Digital Operative, I had the pleasure to work on the Bay Tula account.
THE CHALLENGE
Optimizing Baby Tula
Baby Tula is a San Diego based company that designs comfortable and easy-to-use baby carriers in a wide variety of prints. They approached Digital Operative looking to increase revenue at their existing audience level. Our challenge was to create and execute a strategy that would continuously increase revenue per unique visitor, squeezing the most out of every visit. This type of strategy is perfect for ecommerce managers seeking growth while operating on a cost conscious marketing budget.
OUR ROLE: Conversion Rate Optimization & Shopify Development Support
THE OUTCOME: Through smart optimizations, Baby Tula’s dedication & campaigns, and program testing solutions powered by VWO experience Optimization Platform, we effectively optimized the experience prior to the holiday season. As a result, revenue increased by 16% while visitors to the site decreased by 20% from 2018.
+ 68% REVENUE PER VISITOR
+ 10% AVERAGE ORDER VALUE
+ 31% CONVERSION RATE
The CRO program worked to decrease friction and increase overall value articulation through homepage, collection and product page testing leading to strategic incremental performance improvements.
MY ROLE: I was the producer for this client, managing scope, budgets, resources and timelines.
Read the full case study here.
This project lead to additional support across Marketing Planning and eCRM support as well as Amazon Marketplace Management.
As an agency Producer at Digital Operative, I had the pleasure to work on the WaterWipes account.
THE CHALLENGE
Amazon Exclusive Content
Irish Breeze, a leading global manufacturer of baby products was looking to expand their visibility and capture more market share for their household brand WaterWipes, the world’s purest baby wipes, on both domestic and international Amazon marketplaces. They looked to Digital Operative for assistance in helping to optimize their listings to achieve organic keyword ranking growth and overall conversion rates. While they had already invested in producing some quality imagery and content for their products, our goal was to amplify both their existing content as well as create new in order to best optimize for Amazon.
OUR AGENCY ROLE
Amazon Advertising Strategy
Product Listing Optimization
Content Strategy
Enhanced product images
Optimized titles, bullet points, and descriptions
Enhanced A+ Content
Brand Store
Asset Creation
View the full case study here.
We also produced a video commercial to be used across Amazon and Social.
MY ROLE: I was the producer for this client, managing scope, budgets, resources and timelines.
As an agency Producer at Digital Operative, I had the pleasure to work on the WaterWipes account.
THE CHALLENGE
Achieving D2C Success on Amazon for an 80-Year-Old B2B Brand
Konsyl Pharmaceuticals has been successfully selling their digestive health supplements in B2B and retail markets for more than 80 years. They had only recently begun to incorporate D2C strategies like selling on their Shopify website and Amazon when they approached Digital Operative for help.
Our challenge was to create and execute a strategy that would help Konsyl establish a strong Amazon marketplace presence and direct-to-consumer positioning. The goal was to enable a business with little brand awareness outside of their core consumers to steal market share from top competitors with legacy household names.
OUR ROLE:
Product Listing Creation and Optimization
Enhanced product images
Optimized titles, bullet points, and descriptions
Enhanced A+ content
Amazon Advertising Strategy Development and Implementation
Introduction of Artificial Intelligence for Campaign Bid Management
Through the optimization of product listing pages and implementation of an Amazon advertising strategy focused on conversions and profitability, we were able to guide Konsyl to a 10-15% increase in conversions across all campaign types. Over the course of just 9 months (March 2019 to November 2019), Konsyl achieved:
+ 1000% REVENUE INCREASE
+ 1000% INCREASE IN IMPRESSIONS
+ 1200% INCREASE IN CLICKS
View the full case study here.
We also managed the brand’s paid media across Search and Social as well as executed video commercial shot on location in California.
MY ROLE: I was the producer for this client, managing scope, budgets, resources and timelines.
In fashion, fresh content is king. In the world of bespoke tailored menswear, the customer has full control over the fabrics, details and construction. Options and styles are limitless and communicating that through branding is key. As part of a content strategy I developed for the men’s fashion brand, Senszio, there was a need for more examples of the product offering to be leveraged across all marketing materials.
One of the first projects in my role was coordinating a photoshoot. The goal of the shoot was to highlight various Senszio menswear outfits and visualize the customer experience through lifestyle portraiture. I was the project manager for this photo shoot, collaborating with photographers, stylists, modeling agencies and wardrobe tailors. In addition I was responsible for art direction, location scouting, scheduling, photo selection and even aided in photo touch-ups.
Crafting a confident, knowledgeable, and refined tone of voice was essential to the content strategy for Senszio, a bespoke men’s fashion brand. After immersing myself in the brand and its industry for several months, I developed and implemented this voice across a range of blog posts, always prioritizing SEO best practices and the target audience’s preferences.
Each piece of copy was thoughtfully paired with curated or original photography, much of which I personally photographed (with a mobile phone) and edited to align with the brand’s visual identity. Below are some examples of my work, showcasing the integration of compelling storytelling and striking visuals.
What is a Milanese Buttonhole, and why do I need one?
Read the article
Thomas Mason 2018 New Fabrics - A Quick Look
Read the article
Pitti Uomo 93. The Best Dressed Off the Runway
The NFL Draft came to Chicago for the first time ever for two years in a row. I happened to be managing Riddell's social media channels (IG, FB, TW) during both events. The event being in our "backyard" allowed me to create photographs of our product throughout the city of Chicago in a unique way and closely linked with the event. The goal was to amplify our brand by aligning ourselves with the high profile event and with the city of Chicago.
Year one was focusing on the official NFL Draft helmet in our latest SpeedFlex helmet technology. Year two focused on the teams themselves, again in our now iconic SpeedFlex helmet technology, placing them in clever places throughout the city of Chicago prior to the event. I either shot or art directed the shot for all the concept images and post copy for this campaign.
One of Riddell's highest profile initiatives of the year, Smarter Football is a grassroots campaign that recognizes and rewards those who advance the sport through more progressive playing habits and approaches to the game. I was involved in the first two years of this program's existence but the second year is when I was fully involved from start to finish, working closely with the Corporate Communications Director and PR agencies to scope out the campaign.
This campaign's key drivers were social media which ultimately drove users to a landing page, where users were asked to commit to Smarter Football and apply for an equipment grant. I was tasked with producing the program landing page as well as managing the social media execution throughout the duration of the campaign. Some assets were produced by myself while others were provided through a creative agency through my art direction. All creative went through my approval prior to posting.
Riddell's brand website was managed and controlled by me. During my tenure at Riddell, I was involved in 3 redesigns, two of which included an entire system infrastructure technology change from an SAP solution to Magento with SAP integrations. This most recent design was the most robust upgrade to the website the company had ever made. I was intimately involved in the architecture of the entire website. Utilizing an agile methodology, I was the digital project manager for the brand. I was also the product owner, working daily with the designers and developers as well as internal IT department to ensure the project adhered to the brand's business requirements, met brand identity design requirements and stayed on track and on budget.
Riddell's primary product is fully customizable. It is a complex product that required creative thinking to integrate it with their ERP (SAP) and e-commerce solutions (Magento). A custom software was developed to achieve this which I collaborated on, conceptualized and executed the graphics for by working with 3D illustrators and the Product Development teams to ensure the most accurate representation of the product possible.
A phase two responsive upgrade I spearheaded optimized the entire site for mobile and tablet as well.
I continued to manage the site's content upkeep, performance analysis and develop & execute projects based on improvement opportunities. The website remains essentially the same as it was before I left Riddell in May of 2016.
As part of a strategic sales objectives, Riddell’s institutional sales force saw a growing need for digital solutions. Most sales of Riddell’s football equipment was purchased in bulk by teams and organizations working directly with a regionally located Riddell sales representative to fulfill the purchases. Typically, face time with the athletic director or team representatives would “seal the deal” but new trends saw parents and coaches preferring an online shopping solution to fulfill equipment purchases for their athletes. Unlike typical purchases, team equipment and apparel is usually uniquely customized for a particular team and even athlete. Purchasing custom items a la carte is not cost effective and gathering the entire team’s order details is time consuming.
An online solution allowed users to logon at their convenience to checkout with individual details as part of a larger group order. Fundraising features were also desired, especially for youth groups. This solution would save time for our sales members, improve accuracy and provide more convenience to our customers. A fully customized online ordering platform that provided an intuitive experience for all parties was required and new processes throughout the company were established.
I worked for many months with the IT departments, web designers and developers, sales managers and even the production facilities to develop a workable solution and establish working prototypes to prove it could be done. Partnering with a startup from Silicon Valley, we took their solution and modified it extensively to make it work for Riddell. The solution was approached with an agile project management methodology. As is the trend with digital development projects, an agile approach was especially necessary given how unchartered this territory was for the business and how many adjustments and improvements would be needed along the way. The solution had many phases with improvements based on user feedback and I spearheaded all of those projects as well. An alternate version of the solution was eventually implemented in 2016 when a company acquisition provided the need for something entirely new. It now takes the form of KollegeTown.com
Information about the Riddell Athlete ordering process
Details about setting up a shop on Riddell Athlete.
This online builder was a sales tool first and foremost. The goal was to provide an easy-to-access uniform builder that offered all of Riddell's custom uniform styles and options to the user. The target audience was Riddell's 250+ sales representatives throughout the country as well as their customers, the coaches and athletic directors that make purchasing decisions for their school or team.
I was added as project manager after the project was underway. Visual design and UX were not in my control. Coordinating product specifications to the designers & developers, qa testing and managing the budget for the project was my responsibility.
Riddell partnered with Student Sports and their annual events with Nike called The Opening. Regional events around the country took place where top performing college potentials tested their skills with hopes of being invited to The Finals at Nike's Headquarters.
I attended a regional event and took photographs that were utilized during the year, along with other photos and videos captured across the country, to promote the events and Riddell's participation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The peak of the promotion was the unveiling of the custom designed Riddell SpeedFlex helmet that was warn by all the OL/DL players during their competition. I worked with Student Sports to have a coordinated rollout of the helmet design, creating timely buzz on social media.
Riddell, along with their partner USA Football, host regional Protection Tours that invite parents and their youth athletes to learn football fundamentals such as tackling techniques, hydration and proper equipment use.
I attended and helped at events all three years since it existed. The most recent year I not only managed the social media communications surrounding the events but also coordinated two events in California, one at Levi's Stadium in San Francisco and another in San Diego at the Charger’s training facility. Coordination involved involved shipping logistics, setup, videography and photography, fitting children in football helmets and answering product questions with parents. I also hosted a trivia questionnaire to a room full of parents awarding two Authentic Riddell Speed helmets. Lots of energy, enthusiasm, multitasking skills and product knowledge were required for these events.
Any brand that sells online capitalizes off Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Riddell was no different. Seasonally most sales occurred during the summer when teams were getting ready for the fall football season. However, the holidays always provided a spike in sales when consumers otherwise aren't purchasing football equipment.
It was up to me to develop a blitz of outreach to consumers during this critical purchasing frenzy. Targeted email content to various consumer types, coordinated ad spend on Google Adwords, Google Shopping, Bing and Yahoo as well as social media posts to drive awareness to our website discounts. I coordinated all channels to have unique content all within a few day window and each year saw greater success than the year prior, despite different product offerings and fluctuating demand.
I worked on the logo for a cutting-edge new shoulder pad removal technology called "Riddell RipKord." The final design chosen was implemented on tens of thousands of products in Riddell's shoulder pad line and is still utilized to this day on all new shoulder pads with this technology.
Having worked on the product catalog the few years prior, 2012 was when I took a had a more influential design role from concept to print. Working with the senior graphic designer, I conceptualized model photography we would require during design and then utilized those images throughout the design to bring life to the products. Typically two separate catalogs would be printed, one for football and one for other sports. To save costs while still making it easy to access the products each sales member or customer needs, a flip catalog design was established. I was also involved in proof reading and press checks at the printer.
